The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has lost the narrative war over the recent Gen Z protests at Jantar Mantar, said S Gurumurthy, editor of Thuglak (a Tamil political weekly), chairman of the Vivekanand International Foundation and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideologue, in Kanpur on Monday.
He also cited the participation of young people in religious journeys and events such as the Kumbh to argue that the generation could not be understood through the lens of a single protest. Rebuilding those capabilities, he argued, was essential to greater economic self-reliance. “This is an urban phenomenon. The organisation behind the mela, Hindu Spiritual and Service Foundation, has also used the event to highlight initiatives relating to education, family values, social service and environmental concerns.
He pointed to its continued engagement with religion and traditional practices as well as a rise in entrepreneurship, saying research showed that only about 3% of the corresponding age group in the previous generation were entrepreneurs, compared with around 15% among the present generation.
Referring to the abuse and sloganeering during the demonstration, he said the episode had been used to create a misleading picture of an entire generation. Gurumurthy said the wider Gen Z was far more diverse than its recent political portrayal suggested. Young people who were earlier associated with agricultural work, he said, were increasingly becoming agricultural entrepreneurs. India, he said, created demand for technology without developing adequate domestic manufacturing and technological capabilities, leaving the country dependent on external suppliers. Speaking about the growing discussion around anxiety and stress, Gurumurthy said these were largely phenomena of prosperous urban societies and cautioned against importing solutions from the US into India. India is not an urban country,” he said. Gurumurthy said the mela had grown into a large public platform over the years, with previous editions featuring programmes involving thousands of participants.
